Please check my crafting maths

Backstory: i am working on a tool to help with crafting stuff. The piece in particular will give you a summary of the time/mind and resources required to build The Thing at a given level including iterating all of it’s sub-components.

I chose a Glitter Gulch Raider ride because if the tool can handle that successfully it should be able to handle anything else. I am currently working on a unit test to prove that it works and ensure that it works going forward without breaking.

unfortunately every time I do a hand total of the stuff that goes into a raider ride, I get a different result. I have also asked a few other people to check my hand count and THEY get different results as well. The answers all look close, but I am a software engineer. I don’t want close. I want correct.

Can someone please verify the count below, my latest results. If it’s incorrect, please show how you’re getting your answer.

It should be noted that I have verified on a number of occasions that the process of putting a sub-component into a thing consumes said sub-component. So you cannot simply take the basic engine out of your Raider Ride, upgrade it to Proficient and put it back and have a proficient ride. You must effectively craft two basic Engines, upgrade one of them to proficient. Build a basic ride. Then upgrade the basic ride to proficient it using the proficient engine. It is the same for the gear system and frame. So at the master level you need 9x basic components, upgrade six of them to proficient and then upgrade three of those to master in order to make a master vehicle.

my hand count totals are:
(Master) Glitter Gulch Raider Ride
180 mind
420 minutes
18x Alloy Metal
21x Hard Metal
28x Machined Components
6x Mechanical Components
9x Recovered Electronics
5x Basic Scrap
5x Uncommon Scrap
5x Rare Scrap

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So here is my count of the item, I’ll attach a picture of the math I did in a spreadsheet. Maybe I’m wrong but I got to different numbers than you. I’m counting mind/time to gather the resources as well.

I’m also giving an average of 10 minutes at the post office for an item turn for scrap/metals.

720 MP
35.5 Hours (2130 minutes)

5 B Scrap
5 U Scrap
5 R Scrap
21 Hard Metal
18 Alloy Metal
30 Machined Components
6 Mechanical Components
9 Recovered Electronics

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One of the issues I ran into when I was making my spreadsheet for calculating this stuff was the lack of standard mind/time value for the unnamed scraps since herbs/trade connections was the only way to get them outside of a game giving you salvage. We have weld/smelt now, so I guess that will be the standard value for unnamed scrap for my purposes here. I also never bothered counting limited event items (ex. metals) as any amount of time due to your access to those in a crew varying, and some people will just wait the events out to obtain them if they have access. These are all possible answers to why people get different numbers; every resource you have to personally decide on the definition of time and mind for. I almost forgot to include the add’l artisan crafting time + mind for the components (and final craft).

I’m using the DB, i don’t have prints for these, so if my numbers are off, that may be it.

T = Time
M = Mind

(A) Simple Mechanical Auto Frame (x3)
T = ([20]+[a]+[b]+[c])x3 = ([20]+[0]+[60]+[60])x3 = 420
M = ([5]+[a]+[b]+[c])x3 = ([5]+[15]+[10]+[30])x3 = 180

  • (a) Alloy Metal (x3) || (T)x3 = (0)x3 = 0 || (M)x3 = (5)x3 = 15
    (b) Machined Components (x2) || (T)x2 = (30)x2 = 60 || (M)x2 = (5)x2 = 10
    (c) Recovered Electronics (x2) || (T)x2 = (30)x2 = 60 || (M)x2 = (15)x2 = 30

(D) Simple Mechanical Engine (x3)
T = ([20]+[h]+[b]+[c])x3 = ([20]+[0]+[30]+[30])x3 = 240
M = ([5]+[h]+[b]+[c])x3 = ([5]+[30]+[5]+[10])x3 = 150

  • (h) Hard Metal (x3) || (T)x3 =(0)x3 = 0 || (M)x3 = (10)x3 = 30
    (b) Machined Components (x1) || (T) = (30) = 30 || (M) = (5)= 5
    (d) Mechanical Components (x1) || (T) = (30) = 30 || (M) = (10)= 10

(G) Simple Mechanical Gear System (x3)
T = ([20]+[a]+[h]+[b])x3 = ([20]+[0]+[0]+[90])x3 = 330
M = ([5]+[a]+[h]+[b])x3 = ([5]+[5]+[10]+[15])x3 = 105

  • (a) Alloy Metal (x1) || (T) = (0) = 0 || (M) = (5) = 5
    (h) Hard Metal (x1) || (T) = (0) = 0 || (M) = (10) = 10
    (b) Machined Components (x3) || (T)x3 = (30)x3 = 90 || (M)x3 = (5)x3 = 15

(B) Well-Crafted Mechanical Auto Frame (x2)
T = ([40]+[40]+[a]+[b]+[c])x2 = ([40]+[0]+[90]+[90])x2 = 440
M = ([15]+[a]+[b]+[c])x2 = ([15]+[20]+[15]+[45])x2 = 190

  • (a) Alloy Metal (x4) = (T)x4 = (0)x4 = 0 || (M)x4 = (5)x4 = 20
    (b) Machined Components (x3) = (T)x3 = (30)x3 = 90 || (M)x2 = (5)x3 = 15
    (c) Recovered Electronics (x3) = (T)x3 =(30)x3 = 90 || (M)x2 = (15)x3 = 45

(E) Well-Crafted Mechanical Engine (x2)
T = ([40]+[h]+[b]+[c])x2 = ([40]+[0]+[60]+[60])x2 = 320
M = ([15]+[h]+[b]+[c])x2 = ([15]+[50]+[10]+[20])x2 = 190

  • (h) Hard Metal (x5) || (T)x5 =(0)x5 = 0 || (M)x5 = (10)x5 = 50
    (b) Machined Components (x2) || (T)x2 = (30)x2 = 60 || (M)x2 = (5)x2 = 10
    (d) Mechanical Components (x2) || (T)x2 = (30)x2 = 60 || (M)x2 = (10)x2 = 20

(H) Well-Crafted Mechanical Gear System (x2)
T = ([40]+[a]+[h]+[b])x2 = ([40]+[0]+[0]+[90])x2 = 260
M = ([15]+[a]+[h]+[b])x2 = ([15]+[10]+[20]+[15])x2 = 120

  • (a) Alloy Metal (x2) || (T)x2 = (0)x2 = 0 || (M)x2 = (5)x2 = 10
    (h) Hard Metal (x2) || (T)x2 = (0)x2 = 0 || (M)x2 = (10)x2 = 20
    (b) Machined Components (x3) || (T)x3 = (30)x3 = 90 || (M)x3 = (5)x3 = 15

(C) Superior Mechanical Auto Frame (x1)
T = ([60]+[a]+[b]+[c])x1 = ([60]+[0]+[120]+[120])x1 = 300
M = ([30]+[a]+[b]+[c])x1 = ([30]+[25]+[20]+[60])x1 = 135

  • (a) Alloy Metal (x5) || (T)x5 = (0)x5 = 0 || (M)x5 = (5)x5 = 25
    (b) Machined Components (x4) || (T)x2 = (30)x4 = 120 || (M)x4 = (5)x4= 20
    (c) Recovered Electronics (x4) || (T)x2 = (30)x4 = 120 || (M)x4 = (15)x4= 60

(F) Superior Mechanical Engine (x1)
T = ([60]+[h]+[b]+[c])x1 = ([60]+[0]+[90]+[90])x1= 240
M = ([30]+[h]+[b]+[c])x1 = ([30]+[70]+[15]+[30])x1= 145

  • (h) Hard Metal (x7) || (T)x7 =(0)x7 = 0 || (M)x7 = (10)x7 = 70
    (b) Machined Components (x3) || (T)x3 = (30)x3 = 90 || (M)x3 = (5)x3 = 15
    (d) Mechanical Components (x3) || (T)x3 = (30)x3 = 90 || (M)x3 = (10)x3 = 30

(I) Superior Mechanical Gear System (x1)
T = ([60]+[a]+[h]+[b])x1 = ([60]+[0]+[0]+[210])x1 = 270
M = ([30]+[a]+[h]+[b])x1 = ([30]+[15]+[30]+[45])x1 = 120

  • (a) Alloy Metal (x3) || (T)x3 = (0)x3 = 0 || (M)x3 = (5)x3 = 15
    (h) Hard Metal (x3) || (T)x3 = (0)x3 = 0 || (M)x3 = (10)x3 = 30
    (b) Machined Components (x7) || (T)x7 = (30)x7 = 210 || (M)x7 = (5)x7 = 45

(x) Basic Scrap (x5)
Tx5 = (0)x5 = 0
Mx5 = (0)x5 = 0

(y) Uncommon Scrap (x5)
T = 20
Mx5 = (1)x5 = 5

(z) Rare Scrap (x5)
T = 20x2 = 40
Mx4x5 = (1)x4x5 = 20

(J) Final crafting it ALL together (x1)
T = 20+20+20 = 60
M = 5+10+15 = 30

Cumulative Time =
(A)+(D)+(G)+(B)+(E)+(H)+(C)+(F)+(I)+(x)+(y)+(z)+(J) = (420)+(240)+(330)+(440)+(320)+(260)+(300)+(240)+(270)+(0)+(20)+(40)+(60) = 2940
-Just for crafting, not mats- =
(20x9)+(40x6)+(60x4) = 180+240+240 = 660

Cumulative Mind =
(A)+(D)+(G)+(B)+(E)+(H)+(C)+(F)+(I)+(x)+(y)+(z)+(J) = (180)+(150)+(105)+(190)+(190)+(120)+(135)+(145)+(120)+(0)+(5)+(20)+(30) = 1390
-Just for crafting, not mats- =
(5x9)+(15x6)+(30x4) = 45+90+120 = 255

Cumulative Resources:
Basic Scrap = 5
Uncommon Scrap = 5
Rare Scrap = 5
Alloy Metal = 3+1+4+2+5+3 = 18
Hard Metal = 3+1+5+2+7+3 = 21
Machined Components = 2+3+3+3+4+7 = 22 (you possibly got 28 on yours by accidentally adding in Mechanical Component numbers to your Machined Component numbers; i did)
Mechanical Components = 1+2+3 = 6
Recovered Electronics = 2+3+4 = 9

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Thanks, though I am solely counting the mind/time used to construct, not to gather materials because there’s really no way to tell if someone actually did the gathering or just bought them in all together or peacemeal.

I think have a minimum and maximum number helps people understand what goes into x, y and z.

I posted something like this before. I’ve made some different iterations since and fixed a few bugs along the way. The time to build things is still off and I was still figuring out mind costs, but it should throw out the build materials for each thing that’s currently added to the details page.

Let me know your thoughts.

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The main issue with this is a game could feasibly hand out mats as rewards for plot/mods/etc. with no real “cost;” I’ve even found a fully crafted firearm card once (with a decent expiration); and most CC trades I’ve seen are ALL OVER THE PLACE on pricing goods. Likewise, games can run plot & ZoMs that make normal resources collection harder and drive up the “price” for materials more than what would be an expected ceiling.

While we could put in the book-cheapest and book-most expensive versions of things, that’s no more realistic than the “zero cost” or “inordinately expensive” possibilities I just mentioned, especially since the cheapest versions of everything probably depend on how your game runs foraging and salvaging [and how much], and the most expensive is if you’re at a small game, and will evolve over time). It’s just easier to pick what your game(s) trend towards and mathing out based on that. It’s harder to learn, but if you want to be flexible and reasonable on pricing for people of many games…gotta do the maths.